Insulated cup



Aug. 7, 1951 Filed April 5, 1946 M. w. MORSE INSULATED CUP 2Sheets-Sheet 1 eff Z WlgVENYFOR. 2 1444 c M M. w. MORSE Aug. 7, 1951INSULATED CUP 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 5, 1946 INVENTOR.

BY 5 CY. Z

Patented Aug. 7, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE INSULATED CUP MalcolmW. Morse, Wellesley Hills, Mass.

Application April 5, 1946, Serial No. 659,848

3 Claims. 1

This invention presents a novel construction of container and a novelconstruction of thermally insulated receptacle. In the broader aspectsof this invention, the container is of conical shape and is provided atthe upper and lower portions with circumferential ribs so that when twosimilar container are nested, there is presented between the side wallsof the two containers an insulating chamber. The insulating propertiesof this chamber may simply be due to air therein or may be or may resultfrom insulating material located within the chamber.

If the container is of frusto-conical shape, then when thereceptacle isformed by the nesting of the containers, an insulating chamber is formedbetween the bottoms of the two containers. The receptacle of thisinvention thus thermally insulated at the side walls, and of thefrusto-conical shape also at the bottom is preferably closed by a covercontaining an insulating chamber and thus the receptacle is wellthermally insulated at the sidewalls, at the bottom, and at the top.

The terms bottom and top as herein used are to be understood asrelative, although in the particular construction illustrated thesmaller end of the container is referred to as the bottom while thelarger end is referred to as the top.

The container of this invention may be made of any suitable material tocomply with the requirements of the use to which it is to be put and thenature of the contents with which it is to be filled. While, therefore,in its broader aspects, the invention is not to be limited to theparticular material of which the container is made, important advantagesof the invention are secured when the container is made of somerelatively thin, flexible, stiff or self-supporting material such asemployed in the ordinary small single service containers used in thesale of milk, ice cream, oysters, salads, quick frozen foods and otherfood products, or employed in the better grade of single-servicedrinking cups. Of course, if the container is to hold liquid or moistcontents; the material must be of a character, or treated, to beresistant to moisture and likewise the material must be suitable forwhatever contents the container is designed to hold. By the nesting ofthe containers, a receptacle i provided well thermally insulated at theside Walls, and when the containers are of frusto-conical shape andprovided with the cover, well insulated at the bottom and at the top.

, The receptacle of this invention is so inexpensive having regard toits use that it may be supplied usually as a single service receptacle.

A receptacle of thi invention formed by the nesting of the containerswith'the thermal insulation provided by the invention enables thetemperature of the contents to be maintained with a minimum amount ofchange over substantial periods of time at an exceedingly low cost.

The nature and objects of the invention will appear more fully from theaccompanying description and drawings and will be particularly pointedout in the claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of one form of the container.

Fig. 2 is a view chiefly in vertical cross section and partially brokenaway of a receptacle formed of two nested containers having theconstruction shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a top view of the container shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is abottom view of the container shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a view in vertical cross section of one form of cover of theinvention.

Fig. 6 is a top view of the construction shown in Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a view in vertical cross section partially broken away showingthe cover in placeon a container of the construction shown in Fig. 1.

The container illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4 is of frusto-conical shapeclosed at the bottom and has at the upper and lower portionscircumferential ribs. In the construction shown in Figs. 1 to 4, thebottom is formed of two plies I and 2 of the material. These plies arespaced apart a by bulging downwardly the ply 2, and both pliesat the rimare bent to form a grooved or U-shaped annular rim into which projects,and is secured in any suitable manner, the lower edge of the conicalside wall 3. The plies at the bottom thus form at the bottom portion ofthe outer face of the side wall a thick annular rib 4. The upper portionof the side wall 3 is doubled back upon itself and bent slightly inwardso as to form at the upper edge 5 an inwardly projecting annular rib.When, therefore, two similar containers are nested, as shown in Fig. 2,an insulating chamber 6 is formed between the bottoms of the twocontainers, and with this form of construction there is formed inaddition, two auxiliary bottom insulating chambers by the spaces betweenthe two. plies of each container. The insulating chamber 6 is sealed atthe top by the lower rib of one of the containers, such as the rib 4 ofthe inner container engaging the other or outer container. There is alsoformed an insulating chamber 1 between the nested side walls of the twocontainers sealed at the top of the upper rib of one 3 of thecontainers, a the rib 5 of the outer container, engaging the other orinner container and this chamber is sealed at the bottom by theaforesaid lower rib 4.

Preferably also the container is provided with a plurality of bosses 8formed in, and dispersed throughout, the side walls of the containerbetween the ribs. It is unimportant whether these bosses project inwardor outward, but preferably, as shown, they project outward from the sidewall of the container. When two similar containers are nested, thebosses act to prevent contraction of the insulating chamber between theside walls of the containers. The bosses also strengthen the container(and a fortiori the receptacle formed by nested containers) and enableit to be grasped and handled when of normally light, flexible oryielding material.

It will be seen that there is presented when two similar frusto-conicalcontainers are nested, a construction of receptacle thoroughly insulatedat the bottom and throughout the side Walls so that when the receptacleis caused to contain either a hot material, such, for example, as hotcoifee, or a cold material, such, for example, as ice cream, any changein the temperature of the contents is greatly retarded and thereceptacle may be readily and comfortably handled.

The insulating cover for the receptacle which may be employed is shownin Figs. 5 and 6 and is illustrated in Fig. 1 as positioned on acontainer. Such cover is a two-ply circular cover preferably of the samematerial as the container and has a circumferential grooved rim adaptedto telescope snugly over the edge of and to close the container when inplace. It also presents between the two plies within the rim aninsulating chamber formed by spacing the plies apart. As shown in Fig.5, the plies 20 and 2| at the center are spaced apart to form theinsulating chamber 22. At the rim the two plies, here in contact, arebent up around and back to form the groove 23 shaped to fit snugly overthe top edge of the side wall of a container as shown in Fig. 7.

Thus with the cover in place on the nested containers, the inventionpresents a receptacle efficiently thermally insulated by the insulatingchamber extending between the side walls of the nested containers, bythe insulating chamber between the bottoms of the nested containers, bythe auxiliary bottom insulating chambers when employed, and by theinsulating chamber at the top within the cover. The receptacle, whenthus closed and insulated, efliciently retards the exchange of heatbetween the outside and inside of the containers thus enabling thetemperature of the contents of the receptacle to be maintained withlittle change for long periods of time.

The invention also provides for holding the cover in place on thecontainer or on the receptacle formed by nested containers so that thecontainer or the receptacle may be handled, packaged or stored withoutany danger of the cover becoming separated. For this purpose, asillustrated, the cover has formed in its upper annular edge a plurality,preferably four, diametrically disposed depressions or grooves 50 andthe container has similarly'formed in its lower edge cor res ondingdepressions 5 I. This enables string or wire to be tied or fastenedabout the covered container or receptacle and held in position in thedepressions and thus firmly secure the cover to the container orreceptacle.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Let ters Patent is:

1. An insulated receptacle formed of two nested similar conicalcontainers, the inner container having at its bottom an exteriorcircumferential rib which has a tight sealing engagement with theinterior face of the wall of the outer container, said outer containerhaving at its top an inwardly projecting continuous unbroken annular ribwhich has a tight sealing engagement with the exterior surface of theinner container closely adjacent it top, the side walls of said nestedcontainers being spaced from each other between the circumferential ribat the bottom of the inner container and the inwardly projecting rib ofthe outer container, and the bottoms of the containers also being spacedfrom each other, thereby to provide two separate insulating chambers,one of which extends from the lower end of the inner container to theinwardly projecting rib of the outer container and circumferentiallyencloses all of the side wall of the inner container between said ribs,and the other of which is con"- stituted by the space between thebottoms of the containers, said insulating chambers being sealed fromeach other by the exterior circumferential rib at the bottom of theinner container.

2. An insulated receptacle formed of two nested similar conicalcontainers each presenting a side wall and a bottom, the bottom of eachcontainer being made of two plies spaced from each other,

' the inner container having at its bottom an exterior circumferentialrib which has a tight sealing engagement with the interior face of thewall of the outer container, said outer container having at its top aninwardly projecting continuous unbroken annular rib which has 'a tightsealing engagement with the exterior surface of the inner containerclosely adjacent its top, the side walls of said nested containers beingspaced from each other for the full distance between the circumferentialrib at the bottom of the inner container and the inwardly projecting ribof the outer container, thereby to provide an insulating chamber whichextends from the exterior circumferential rib of the inner container tothe inwardly directed rib of the outer container and circumferentiallyencloses the side wall of the inner container, the bottoms of thecontainers being spaced from each other thereby to provide I a secondinsulating chamber between them which is sealed from the circumferentialinsulating chamber by the exterior bottom rib of the inner container,the twoply bottom of each container providing between the plies thereofan auxiliary insulating chamber.

3. An insulated receptacle formed of two nested similar conicalcontainers each presenting a side wall and a bottom, the bottom of eachcontainer being made of two plies spaced from each other, the innercontainer having at its bottom an exterior circumferential rib which hasa tight sealing engagement with theinterior face of the wall of theouter container, said outer container having at its top an inwardlyprojecting continuous unbroken annular rib which has a tight sealingengagement with the exterior surface .of the inner container closelyadjacent its top, the side walls of said nested containers being spacedfrom each other for the full distance between the circumferential rib atthe bottom of the inner container and the inwardly projecting rib of theouter container, thereby to provide an insulating chamber which extendsfrom the exterior circumferential rib of the inner container to theinwardly directed rib or the outer container and clrcumferentiallyencloses the side wall of the inner container, the bottoms of thecontainers being spaced from each other thereby to provide a secondinsulating chamber between them which is sealed from the circumferentialinsulating chamber by the exterior bottom rib of the inner container,the two-ply bottom of each container providing between the plies thereofan auxiliary insulating chamber, and a cover for closing the upper endof the inner container, said cover presenting a two-ply closure portionfitting within the upper end of the inner ply and the rim portion, thetwo plies of said closure portion being spaced to provide an insulatingchamber and a rim portion upstanding from the periphery of the closureportion and presenting a downwardly directed annular groove to receivethe top edge of the inner container.

MALCOLM W. MORSE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

Number Number 6 UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Merrill Mar. 7, 1871McLaughlin May 18, 1897 Gage, Jr. Oct. 1, 1912 Weber Apr. 27, 1915Freundt Sept. 7, 1920 Dolan Jan. 30, 1923 Wright et a1. Dec. 6, 1927Dufour July 14, 1931 Sykes Dec. 23, 1941 Foley Oct. 5, 1943 Hiller Oct.15, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date France Apr. '7, 1906 Germany May2, 1936

